Office organization is a concern of both employers and employees. With office space at a premium, organization becomes a necessity to prevent misplacement of important items. A desk, being the primary working surface,for individuals in an office, becomes the primary focus for any type of organization. While a cluttered desk may be an indication of poor organization, an otherwise organized individual having limited desk space may be forced into such disarray. Even if an employee is conscientious of the clutter, concealment of important documents in drawers or file cabinets may cause the same type of problems as poor organization. Accordingly, an individual having a small desk faces a dilemma in maintaining an organized desk versus maintaining all important items in a readily available fashion.
The available desk top space is further lessened by devices as large as computers placed on the desk top together with telephones, dictaphones, and so forth. In addition, peripheral items such as a computer monitor, mousepad and mouse, lamp, file tray, stapler, books, and so forth all cause loss of working space. In addition, the computer may require compact discs or floppy diskettes, that must be readily available. Moreover, a myriad of wires typically runs along the top and bottom of a desk to accommodate the aforementioned items leading to an aesthetically unpleasing array that can be unsafe.
A desk may include drawers for placement of pens, pencils, notepads, hanging files, and so forth. The more drawer space, the less available leg room. Moreover, while the individual may conceal items within a drawer, the individual may also forget where an item was placed.
Prior art devices assist in desk organization, but detract from desk top surface space. Such devices include stackable trays and writing instrument holders which all take up space on the desk as well as add clutter to a desk. This can be compounded when pendaflex hanging folders are used which cannot be stored on a desktop. Another common desk organizer is the multiple level paper tray which provides separated bins for purposes of organizing. This also utilizes valuable desk space.
Another form of organizing is use of a wall for holding miscellaneous items. If a desk is positioned against a wall, a corkboard structure may be secured to the wall to assist in organization of loose leaf papers. However, office practice shows that such boards often add to the cluttered appearance of the desk. In addition, many companies are making a more efficient use of floor space by eliminating individual offices and requiring the employees to work with desks placed in an open room. In this environment there is no access to a wall unless the space is divided by cubicles which further add to the expense of an office.
Thus, what is lacking in the art is an office organizer that will maintain items in close proximity to the working surface of a desk, yet allow for positioning of such items away from the surface of the desk. This organizer should include accessories for holding and organizing such things as flat files and papers, hanging files, writing utensils, computer accessories, telephone, and related wiring.